


Sanders Sides Star Trek Au, or How Not to go About An Important Inspection

by Stedler2 (k9cat)



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Continuity What Continuity, Found Family, Gen, Platonic Relationships, Queerplatonic Relationships, Star Trek AU, Team as Family, cause i for sure dont know, everyone calls each other family, you decide where this fits into star trek
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:13:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21854308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/k9cat/pseuds/Stedler2
Summary: The USS Bifrost, after having gone through an ordeal and with the Crew still recovering, is called in for Maintenance and an Inspection.Captain Thomas Sanders is trying to at least get everyone to call him Captain, instead of Thomas, or even dad, though Dad is reserved for Patton. The one person who does call him Captain is Logan, bless his soul for doing his best to not get in trouble for once in his life. Roman seems to have something to prove or hide, he hasn't figured it out yet, and Virgil is looking more and more nervous as the days go by. The newly instated Communications Officer D'ee is not helping that fact. At least Emile and Remy are behaving.It almost felt like he was taking care of a bunch of teenagers, even though everyone really is just nerds and dorks that love space a bit to much, and love everyone else just a bit more than that. Just the typical shenanigans of life when you are tucked away in a metal tube floating through space in a controlled manner.
Comments: 12
Kudos: 34
Collections: Sanders Sides Secret Santa 2019





	1. Engineering & Security

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!  
> This is the Secret Santa gift for cyraniadebergerac on tumblr, she has a concept for a Star Trek Au and I thought that was so neat, so I wrote this based on her post and explored from there.  
> Just a note for full names and species.  
> Captain Thomas Sanders, he/him, Human  
> First Officer Roman Regio, he/him, Human  
> Science Officer Klon Nei-savas Logan, he/him, Vulcan  
> Medical Officer Patton Koutavi, he/him, Mari  
> Chief Security Officer Virgil Sollicitus, he/him, Andorian  
> Chief Communications Officer D'ee, they/them, Cardassian  
> Psychology Officer Emile Picani, xir/xim, half Human, half Betazoid  
> Engineering Ensign Remy Dormir, they/them, Human  
> Con Man Remus Regio, he/him, Human  
> Inspector Dice, he/him, Human

_Captains personal log. Today I received a message from command, seeing that it has been a couple months since our… incident, we are being called back in to port for the week and will have a ship wide inspection, which will be including the crew and daily operations._

_I am confident that the ship and departments will pass with flying colours, yet I’m worried about the crew inspection. As much as we do things good around here, and log our hours and cross our t’s and dot our i’s, I find part of the reason why my crew is so amicable is that we have moved past the formalities and have created a deeper sense of respect and trust. I hear the crew calling themselves family, rather than just teammates or coworkers, and that good faith has carried over into all the work and passion everyone has._

_I am very proud of everyone on this ship, and I can’t be thankful enough, especially with what happened. But I know we can’t lose what we have now too what other people think we should or should not address each other by, but we can not risk it either. So, for this inspection we need to show the respect we have for each other in formality. I’m planning a bulletin to be sent out to remind the crew about proper address to all ranks, hopefully a reminder is enough for the crew. Captain Thomas Sanders, out._

~*~

“You look tense.” Roman said from over Virgil’s shoulders, having him jump and almost spill the hot drink in his hands.

“Roman, what have I said about sneaking up on me like that!” he hissed out.

“To not sneak upon you. But your antennae were moving so I thought that you’d have sensed me.” Roman replied, setting down his tray of food and pulled a chair up beside Virgil.

“Yes, but I’m focused on other things.”

Roman glanced in the direction Virgil’s gaze was set, and saw the new communications officer sat at a table alone off to the side across the busy mess hall, seeming to be enjoying his own meal.

“Seriously.” Roman dead panned.

“What?” Virgil questioned, and took a sip of his tea.

“You’re still watching D’ee? They’ve been vetted by you, me, and Patton, and you know how Patton can get anyone to fess up if they are feeling uneasy or unsure, and know when people are lying.”

“But what if its false? What if they’re really good a lying and fool Patton? Fool me? We can’t make a mistake again.”

“Those are a lot of ‘what ifs’, and if it helps you feel better, I’ll let you know that I am worried too. I think everyone on this ship is, even if its low key ‘just making sure everyone does what they are supposed to do’ type wary. This crew is one of the closest knit one’s I’ve been a part of, we’ll take care of each other.”

“One of the closest? Tell me, how’d you get here again?”

“Excuse me! I earned my promotions fair and square, and I know I’ll be a captain one day too and be able to sail though the stars with my ship, and we’ll explore so many new worlds and be famous!”

“We?”

“Well, yes, if you wanted to, I’m sure that Starfleet would approve of a transfer.”

“And leave everyone else behind?”

“No! Of course not! Everyone could come, we’re a family.”

“Then just wait for Thomas, ah, uh, Captain Sanders to retire. At this rate he will be promoted up and then it will just be everyone else moving in behind him, which means you’ll captain, First Officer Regio.”

“Uh, I do not miss proper titles,” Roman bemoaned. “But your right, the Bifrost is our home, and you guys are my family, it wouldn’t be the same without Thomas though.”

“I know what you mean, I’m happy with just being security. And plus, the proper address is just for the inspection portion of when were docked, and its not like the inspectors will be on your heals the whole time. The ship is receiving maintenance and they’ll be going through each department, I am pretty sure you can survive that.” Vigil took another sip of his tea, still intently looking in D’ee’s direction.

“I know I will, it's just that you guys feel like family, and proper address feel weird in a family.” There was a quiet moment when both of them were vaguely looking in the direction of D’ee from across the mess hall. “You know what?”

“What?”

“I bet some good old ‘human pack bonding instinct’ will have you feeling better.” Roman grinned a sly smile at Virgil.

“Human pack bonding-? What- hey! That’s my drink!” Roman plucked Virgil’s tea and placed it in his tray before standing up, the Andorian a tad slow in his surprise.

“I know, you are just going to finish it within talking distance of D’ee, instead of glaring at them from across the room. Isn’t the best way to build trust to actually interact with another?”

“Curse you and you’re stupid ‘pack bond instinct’.” Virgil tailed after Roman around the tables.

“It helped you, did it not? And plus, isn’t the best way to make sure they don’t betray us is to have them like us enough not too?” Virgil only seemed to grumble at that. And Roman smiled just turned brighter as they both came upon the table D’ee was sitting at.

“Hello!” Roman said as a warning before pulling out two chairs and plopping himself down beside D’ee, and pushed the chair on his other side for Virgil and set his tea down on the table in front of it. It was an unspoken telling to sit down as it could be. Virgil looked particularly grumpy, but he did sit down.

“Hello…” D’ee parroted back cautiously, startled by the sudden self invite of Roman and a begrudged Virgil.

“What’ch ya eatin’?” Roman asked.

“Soup.” Was D’ee’s bland reply, he didn’t look very entertained at the idea of the two other officers being there.

“Soup?”

“Soup.”

“It's just soup.” Virgil interrupted. “Just like whatever you have with you there.”

“I’ll let you know it’s a classic hamburger, fries and a salad, thank you very much. And since fries are a finger food, don’t judge me, they are fair game for who is all at the table, which is you two.” Roman justified himself by setting the basket in the middle, and then to make a point, snagged a fry from said basket and took a bite. It was a tense moment when the three were just eating their food.

“Was there anything you particularly needed, Mr. Regio and Mr. Sollicitus?” D’ee broke the silence, glancing to both of them then focusing back to their soup.

Roman piped up before Virgil could answer. “No, I just thought you looked a little lonely sitting at this table with no one else and thought you could use some company. Right Vir- uh, Mr. Sollicitus?”

Virgil answered by taking another sip of his tea instead, not breaking eye contact.

“That is rather kind of you, but I do not need your pity. With my new instalment and with the, recent history, I understand why the crew is wary of companionship from me. You do not have to force yourself to be here. I am not in communications for nothing.” D’ee raised an eyebrow, trying to seem dismissive. Either Roman did not notice, or he did not listen to it.

“That’s just the thing though! We interviewed a dozen people for the Chief Communications post and you were the best fit for our ship. The crew shouldn’t be wary around you, they should trust you like they trust me and Virgil, you’re an officer. If you don’t want pity, then accept our acceptance, you’re already stuck here in the family of the USS Bifrost.” Roman smiled.

“Why does that sound more like a threat than anything else?” D’ee replied.

“Because Humans will unconditionally love you even if you don’t want it, and once they are bonded to something, well, good luck getting rid of it.” Virgil responded, and snatched a fry.

“Excuse me, I’m right here!”

“So, it is a threat.” D’ee ignored Roman, and subsequently also snatched a fry.

“As much as a threat of love can be, I’m still here and surviving.” Virgil also ignored Roman.

“Interesting, is this love threat also connected to the supposed ‘humans will pack bond with anything’ stereotype?”

“You know what? Roman mentioned it first when we were walking over, so probably yah.”

“Fascinating, I may have to write that down.”

“If you want more info, just ask Logan. I bet he’ll have a lot of data to share if you ask nice enough. He’s always happy to share knowledge.”

“Fine, just ignore me then, you two are talking and as long as you two eat the fries I’ll be happy. You both need to eat more.”

“Wait, Patton has been getting on my case to eat more, and enlisted you for help?” Virgil finally acknowledged Roman.

“I may have over heard him speaking about it to Logan.” Roman nonchalantly replied.

“And Logan! You guys are the worst, I know how to feed myself.”

“Then use that knowledge so that you don’t faint on us please.”

“That was one time! And you all know it was during a highly stressful situation, and I do not do well under high stress for a long period of time.”

“No one does well under high stress for a long time, and you scared the dickens out of all of us when you did. I’d rather not have to rush my friend to the med bay, thank you very much.”

“And here I thought the people on this ship were professional.” D’ee commented blandly, taking a spoonful of their soup.

“Hey, we’re professional, isn’t that right Mr. Sollicitus?” Roman cajoled.

“Whatever you say, Mr. Regio.” Virgil replied with a half effort affirmation.

“There you go, we are professional, and speaking of professional, it looks like I should get back to the bridge, thank you both for an exciting dining experience.” Roman stood and took his try, leaving behind the half munched on basket of fries.

“You know he still has half an hour before he’s required back on shift.” Virgil said, now alone at the table with D’ee.

“Really?”

“Yup, I’m pretty sure this whole thing was a ploy to get me and you to interact with each other.

“But we do interact? Unless humans have a different idea of how friendly interactions proceed.” D’ee sounded befuddled.

“I’m pretty sure it’s called ‘hanging out’, and Roman has no idea that we already do.”

“If you count staring at me across the mess hall as ‘hanging out’ then sure.”

“You stare back.”

“I know.” D’ee raised a brow, and took another ladle full of their soup, not breaking eye contact.

Virgil hunkered down and took a sip of his tea, keep his gaze on D’ee also.

They both took a fry from the basket.

~*~

“You feel nervous.” Patton said gently. The Med Bay was quiet with just the two of them, performing a preliminary inventory of the supplies.

“I assure you Mr. Koutavi, that I am not nervous.” Logan replied.

“Well, I can feel something that’s different than your regular self-assured feeling. If it helps for you to know, I’m feeling nervous also. A ship and crew wide inspection. It's not everyday that you get called in for one, though with what just happened, I’m not surprised that Starfleet wants to inspect the ship and the crew. I’d be double checking everything also if I was in charge.”

“You do know that it is not your fault, correct?”

“What? I- I don’t know-” Patton lightly laughed, hands absently fumbling together, playing with the stylus.

“There was no logical way for you to have, preverbally sensed that the infiltrator had less than pure intentions, she went through all the training and classes to be promoted to Communications, it was a long-term plan. Also, D’ee has been vetted by you, First Officer Regio, Chief Security Officer Sollicitus and the investigation board. There is no reason to doubt the new chief communications officer. I know your people can be, very strict, when it comes to morals, but do try to not take it so hard on yourself. It would not be very good if our doctor had to take sick leave himself.” Logan had that slight eyebrow raise, on him that was a large show of emotion.

A small, but genuine smile broke out over Patton’s face. “And people say that you don’t care. They just don’t know how to feel your emotions. If Roman and Virgil can say that D’ee will be trustworthy, and I can’t find anything, then we just have to let them do their job, and trust that it will be okay, Thank You Logan, oh, I should say Mr. Logan, that’s correct, right?”

“Yes, that is Mr. Koutavi.”

“It's so strange, hearing my family title in such a formal way. I’ve gotten so used to people just calling me ‘Dad’, I hope I don’t mess up during the inspection. Even I have gotten a little lax with proper titles for crew members.”

“I am sure you will do your best, along with the rest of the crew. I believe we will be docking in a couple hours, an I have yet to make sure my science division is prepared.”

“Oh, right, you should go then, thank you for your help though. Sometimes my counting can get mixed up a bit.”

“It is no problem assisting you in this meticulous endeavour, I presume you will be with the rest of the officers for the welcoming of the Inspectors?”

“Of course, I will be! First impressions are everything, see you there.”

~*~

Docking was a routine endeavour, and before Thomas knew it, he was standing at the transporter with the rest of his officers. Everyone was looking stiffer and more formal than he had seen in a long time.

“We have the signal that they’re ready to transport, sir.” The ensign said, taping at the controls.

“Ready team?” If it was possible, everyone’s posture straightened up even more. “Okay then, accept and transport please.”

The console beeped and the transport pad lit up with the glow and one person resolved out of the light. The dark blue uniform and tinted glassed immediately reminded Thomas of a certain crewmate from engineering, but that wasn’t for right now.

“Welcome aboard the USS Bifrost, uh, Inspector…”

“Inspector Dice. Starfleet didn’t tell you who, did they?”

“No, just that we will be receiving an inspection, is the rest of the team arriving at a later time?”

“The rest of the team? They really told you nothing, hon, I am the team. You got the cream of the crop for this one with what happened.” Inspector Dice glanced at the data pad he carried. “Captain Sanders, okay, so you must be First officer Roman Regio.” Dice pointed to Thomas’ right, “And you would be Science officer Klon Nei-savas Logan, hmm, interesting name.” Dice pointed to Thomas’ left.

“My parents lived on Earth, and though a more, local name would help integrate us in society.” Logan replied, voice noticeable even flatter than usual.

“Smart.”

“Vulcans tend to be so.”

Inspector Dice seemed taken back by the comment, and glanced back to the pad. “You know what, lets start from the bottom up, so engineering and security first, lets get that out of the way, lets go.” Dice brushed past them into the hallway. “Come on, I don’t know your ship.”

It was a stunned sort of silence, Thomas just shrugged his shoulders and started following, prompting Virgil to move also, glancing back with a concerned expression before leading the way, leaving the rest of them in the transport room.

“Welp, he sure has his knickers in a twist.” Emile said, breaking the silence.

“He doesn’t feel that nice either.” Patton commented.

“Was my comment that offensive? I was just stating a fact?” Logan sounded befuddled.

“Remember our conversation on tone of voice Lo?” Roman asked.

“Of course I do, your explanations are extremely helpful. Though I don’t quite see the connection of topics.”

“That Inspector Dice guy doesn’t know you at all, and when you were conversing, you kind of sounded rude, even though we know you were trying to be as polite as possible.” Emile explained. Logan nodded.

“He wasn’t being very nice back though, ‘smart’, like what kind of comment is that?” Roman sounded offended, and by his posture, he was.

“Obviously one he was unprepared for.” D’ee commented. “He was caught very off guard, and going to security and engineering was not his first plan.”

“Hey, isn’t Remy on shift right now in engineering?” Emile asked.

There was a moment of thought.

Roman seemed to realise first. “Oh shit.”

~*~

“Why does it look like the whole place was flooded, and then set on fire?” Inspector Dice asked immediately as they stepped into to the main area of the engineering department.

Thomas did his best to hide his wince, but he was pretty sure it was caught. He was saved from explain, though in retrospect, it could have been a curse also.

“Oh honey, if you think it’s a mess right now, you should have been in it when everything went to shit.” Remy said as they rounded the corner, sipping loudly at their ever-present drink.

“And who are you?”

“Remy Dormir, engineering.” They sipped their drink again. “We’ve been cleaning since we got the engine fixed enough to actually fly again. And that took a couple weeks in the first place. Thank goodness we were called in for maintenance and we can get this whole thing finally cleaned up. So, who’re you?”

“Inspector Dice, Starfleet. I would have thought that the crew would be informed of such an important, occasion.” He started sounding testy, and Thomas could see Virgil’s antenna start to slink back, which wasn’t good.

“Of course everyone was, I just don’t know who you are, and no unfamiliar person gets to mess up my space.” Remy started to also sound testy. Which was also not good.

“Very good then,” Dice scribbled on his pad with a stylus. “Personal security seems to be fine, with both real person interaction and code clearance for crew members.” That was a surprising turn of attitude. “Let’s check your inventory next.” He motioned for them to continue. Remy shrugged and turned, taking another obnoxious sip of his drink.

“I thought that would have ended way worse.” Virgil whispered.

“I don’t think we’re in the clear yet, but I agree, that could have ended a lot worse.” Thomas whispered back, starting to follow after again.

The rest of the inspection for engineering went pretty smooth all considering. Remy toured the place to Inspector Dice, both making almost scathing comments on operations, organization and some more questionable side experiments. Like Remy’s attempts of creating coffee out of Not-Earth caffeinated fruit stone. Some of the science went over Thomas’ head, and from Virgil’s look, also his, so it wasn’t just him, Dice just nodded along. Even with the comments that were less than savoury Dice always seemed to be pleased with whatever he was looking for, which was good. He also scribbled a lot of noted on his data pad, which hopefully were good notes. They finished engineering by noon, and lunch was an event. Dice and Remy gave equal on what Thomas could only call sass, and he really hoped the engineering report would not reflect the amount of times he had an uh-oh moment when he thought someone went overboard. They had a moment of reprieve when Inspector Dice went to freshen up after the meal.

“He’s a bitch by the way.” Remy said as soon as Dice was out of ear shot.

“Remy!” Thomas practically scolded. Virgil’s whole expression was surprised shock as he choked on his tea.

“What? Its true. Grew up with him in elementary school and he always judged people and the art they made in craft class. His mom spoiled him and he always thought he knew more because he took the advanced placed history class in grade 11. Bitch beat him though, I got into Starfleet itself, they just contract out inspectors, and since he’s so critical of everything he supposedly good at his job.” Remy sipped at his fresh iced coffee.

Virgil caught his breath. “Wait, that means you knew who he was.”

“Sure was, I just wanted him to think I didn’t recognise him, he wasn’t very important then, and not that important now. And he’s still wearing ridiculous glasses.”

“Not important!” Thomas was flabbergasted. “This whole inspection rides on his opinion of if the ship, and us as a crew, are repaired and recovered enough to return to full active duty. If he does not think so we could all be moored till we are cleared, and that could take up to a year. I don’t want to risk that, risk losing the fantastic crew we have.”

“I don’t think Starfleet would break up a crew that has overall one of the best records for compatibility, but you right, I’d hate to lose anyone in engineering.”

“And my security roster and schedule would be out of whack for months if my team changes. Do you guys know how long I looked over everyone’s files to make sure that there would be the least amount of conflict?” Virgil added.

“Way to long?”

“Way to long.”

“Welp, then don’t mess up! Your department is next, and I can finally get back to Engineering, it took three days to tidy the place up, and with the repairs it’ll take half a day to make it worse than before. See ya Tommy, V.” They stood and gave a half salute, iced coffee clinking in its mug.

“He didn’t use any proper address at all this morning, did he?” Thomas asked, leaning forward on the table, rubbing at his forehead. He knew it didn’t really help with on coming headaches, but it felt nice.

“When has Mr. Dormir ever addressed people by their proper name?” Virgil retorted.

“I’m pretty sure the only person they’ve ever used a proper name for is Emile.”

“Fair point. And man, do they know how to get me anxious. ‘Don’t mess up’, I know that! I tell myself that everyday.”

“Personally, if this helps, I think you do, do your best every day. With this, just think of it as if you’re explaining how everything works to a new ensign. An orientation of sorts. Inspector Dice has no idea how you organise this ship’s specific security detail and what measures you have set up with the computer, just, let him know that, and I think you will do your best.”

“Giving an orientation is still anxiety producing, because if I mess up, I still have to interact with that person almost everyday.”

“Then this is better, you only have to see him once and then your done.”

“Right, have it be like a band aid, just rip if off and get it done with. Thanks Thomas.”

“No problem Virgil, and if anything gets overwhelming for you, let me know and I can do my best to take over so you can go and recover. Okay?”

Virgil nodded, a small smile appearing. “Okay.”

It was a beat and Inspector Dice entered the mess hall. “Okay, next up is Security and we haven’t got all day.” He promptly turned around and left, which had Virgil scrambling after him and Thomas doing his best to keep up to the pair. He could see Virgil nervously picking at his fingers, and he hoped that however the inspector decided to go about the Security inspection that it wasn’t like the engineering one.

The security wing was on one of the lower deck levels, and accessed through the turbolift with the appropriate security code. Dice was already writing on his pad, and Virgil looked noticeable nervous. Thomas gently bumped their shoulders together, and took in an audible deep breath. Thankfully Virgil noticed and did a simple breathing rhythm till the lift arrived, nervousness noticeably more under control.

“Right this way.” Virgil lead them out of the lift to a door. “And keep close till were in the main wing please.” He keyed in a code to the number pad and then laid his hand on the scanner, after a moment it beeped and a green light flashed, the door sliding open. Virgil then lead them to the next door a couple steps in and repeated the process, with the next door sliding open to the main wing.

“Two doors?” Inspector Dice questioned.

“Well if your security area isn’t secure then how can you make sure everything else will be safe? All the important processors for the computer are held in this area, I’d rather not have life support wack out if somebody yanks a wrong wire during repairs.”

“Fair ‘nough, main area looks nice all organised.”

“I try to keep it that way.” Virgil nodded, and to Thomas it was starting to feel awkward, he couldn’t imagine how Virgil felt.

“Uh huh, I see side rooms, lets check those out.” Dice scribbled again on his pad, and Virgil moved to open the closest door as if the distance would have made any difference.

“This left side of the hall is uniforms and suits, defense and weaponry, local containment supplies, repair shop, external containment supplies and landing crew supplies. The back wall are offices, a breakroom and a shower facility. The right side is the computer stuff and then some extra supplies rooms. Pretty standard for a star ship.” Virgil explained as he opened up the rooms on the left, showing the organised, yet untidy by use, contents. Dice took his time as he looked in the opened rooms one by one, writing stuff down every so often. It felt tense as Thomas and Virgil watched him judge the rooms on unknows standards and categories.

“So,” Inspector Dice spoke up. “What would happen if a crew member went rogue, and started harming other crew mates?”

“Uh, procedure P-19.” Virgil answered. “Witness are to report to their supervisors and contact security, the supervisor is to clear the area of all unharmed personal, the security comes with the medical assistance who can hopefully calm and recover the rogue crew member. Once the active harm is under control, we can start assessing bystanders and get them the help they need from there. There would be a lot of paperwork, and depending on why the crew member went rouge, reprimanding would be assessed.”

Dice nodded. “Okay, what about an animal loose on the ship?”

“What kind of animal?”

“How about a big one?”

“Procedure B-3. Security is called and they assist the handlers, caretakers, and or the biologists who know the animal to contain and safely help them back to where they are supposed to be.

“What about a flying reptile on the loose?”

“Procedure B-27, basically the same but with nets. Most animal containment procedures are the same, the codes just let us know generally what we are working with so we can grab the right supplies as soon as possible.” Virgil shrugged, looking nervous with the inspector’s gaze right on him.

“How do these codes work?” Dice asked.

“The letter stands for what section it falls under, P is personal, B is biology, though plants use F for flora. The numbers get more specific, B-1 is ‘animal on the loose’, B-2 is ‘small animal on the loose’, and so B-3 is ‘big animal on the loose’, if you get into specifics like, ‘whale on the loose’ then there will be way to many codes and that wouldn’t be effective.”

“Yet you have a B-27.” Dice retorted.

“Yes, it’s an animal, its small, so 2, and it flies, so 7, which is ‘flying animal on the loose’. It's easy once you know it.” Virgil explained.

“What if it’s a huge flying reptile. Would it then be B-37?”

“Correct, and if it’s a situation that is not written down in the book, but still fits the definition of the code system, then you can call those specific points in reporting and we will still be just as prepared as usual.”

“Interesting.” Dice hummed as he scribbled some more. “And did you come up with this system?”

“Uh mostly. I had a lot of input from the security team and my fellow officers, Th- Captain Sanders suggested the alphabet way of organising it into sections, because the codes would be way too long to actually be rememberable if they weren’t otherwise.”

Dice turned his attention to Thomas “So you know all the different codes to then, and all the other officers too?”

“Yes I do, and actually, we made sure the whole crew is aware of the code system and how it is to be used, because usually it is the crew who encounter such events first, and being able to tell what exactly is happening to the team that responds to such situations is best.”

“Well, that is very well thought out.”

“I think of a lot of ‘what-ifs’ so it helps to know that I’ve prepared the crew as best I could, even if the event would be very unlikely.” Virgil explained.

“So then, with the recent incident, how was that reported?” Inspector Dice asked bluntly.

Virgil’s light blue skin visibly blanched to quite a paler shade, and his nervous movements of his hands stilled immediately. Thomas stepped forward almost blocking Virgil from view of the inspector.

“We actually had to add another letter to the code, X, which is for internal sabotage. At the time of the situation there were codes called for engineering, multiple for personal across the board as the event moved, and a couple for science and experiments. It all happened at once and we were all kind of flooded with information that didn’t make sense. Communications was interrupted severely. The Bridge was placed on involuntary lockdown so I only know first hand what happened there, the rest of my knowledge for what happened on the ship I know from reports. It was, chaotic, trying to understand what had just happened.”

“Well, seems like your code reporting system did what it was supposed to do. You should consider submitting the formatting to Starfleet for consideration, it may just be the best next response plan.” Inspector Dice commented before continuing on. “So, what kind of security clearance system do you guys have set up? If its anything like your reporting system, I want to see it.”

“Really!” Virgil’s stepped out from behind Thomas, shock having twisted into an anger. “You ask about the worst-case scenario that did happen, and then brush off my Captain’s answer like it was nothing, that we didn’t loose months worth of research and set back everybody’s lives even more? One that left us stranded for 13 days and Emile swamped with appointments and then you ask about security clearance levels like this whole inspection isn’t the result of said incident! I did my best, my crew did their best, the whole ship did their best, yet it still wasn’t enough! It's not our fault that there was a mole on the inside that was not caught till she started to actively bring harm to my family.” His anger seemed to deflate suddenly, shoulders sagging under some unseen, but definitely felt, weight, breath starting to come in sharp bursts. “I- I need a moment Thom- Captain Sanders.” Virgil turned and practically ran to his office in the back.

“Humm, interesting.” Inspector Dice hummed, not seeming to be phased by Virgil’s sudden outburst. “Is he always this… tense?”

Thomas could only look at the inspector in disbelief, his own anger and upset rolled in his stomach. He pushed it out of the way. Dice just raised an eyebrow, waiting for an answer. It was a moment till Thomas found his voice. “Mr. Sollicitus has always’ been very cautious, even when compared to other Andorian’s. He knows how to do his job and we all listen to his concerns, but the incident has left the whole crew shaken, some more so than others.” He half answered, Inspector Dice thankfully didn’t comment on that part.

“Is Mr. Sollicitus going to come back out soon?”

“I believe it would be best if we let him come to us, but I’m going to call Mr. Koutavi anyways.” Thomas replied, pulling out his communicator.

“Do you think he is hurt?”

“No, not at all, he just might need a hand though.” The communicator beeped as it connected and was answered. “Hey Pat?” Thomas asked, keeping his voice level.

_“Yah Thomas? Is everything okay?”_

“I think V needs some help, we’re still in security and I believe he’s in his purple room.”

_“Oh, I’m leaving right now.”_ The communicator cut off from Patton’s end.

“Purple Room?” The inspector asked.

“Just a phrase we use, it gets the point across.” Thomas shrugged, looking concerned towards the closed office door.

“Gets the point across?” Seconds later rapid steps could be heard, and the door sliding open, Patton rushing in messenger bag slung over his shoulder.

“Where’s Virgil?” Patton asked briskly.

“In his office.” Thomas answered, and the two watched the doctor knock before keying open the door, slipping inside the dim room before closing it off again. “It gets the point across.”

“Are you sure Mr. Sollicitus is not hurt?”

“As much as I can be, anxiety attacks aren’t frequent, but we know how to respond to them. I’ll be finishing up the tour of security since Mr. Sollicitus will not be able to finish it.” Thomas tried to usher Inspector Dice away, walking to the door.

“I think I have seen everything that I need to see actually, an escort to the transporter though please.”

Thomas nodded, and it was an awkwardly quiet ride up the lift with the inspector writing and an equally quietly awkward stiff walk to the room. Thomas’ posture only slouched once the glow was gone, and let out a long sigh of relief. “I can’t believe there will be another four days of that guy.” Thomas typed out a message to Patton, and rapidly received a reply, a small smile relaxing when he read that they are in the commons. Thomas made a quick trip there, and saw Patton, Vigil and Logan in a tucked away corner. Wavering as he got close Patton smiled and waved back motioning for him to sit. He sat beside Logan across from Patton and Virgil, the security officer practically wrapped up in the blanket that surrounded him.

“Hey Virge,” He spoke quietly, “Inspector Dice finished the inspection and is off the ship now.”

He got a slight nod in response.

“Can’t really speak right now? Or just really tired?”

The blanket shifted a bit, Virgil releasing his hand to finger spell. _“Both.”_

“Okay, did you get anything to drink, I can get you some tea.”

Virgil’s nose just wrinkled up at that suggestion, and Patton spoke up. “We already tried that, but he couldn’t keep that down, we we’re waiting till Virgil feels like he can try again.”

“Fair enough, I’m sorry I couldn’t help you there, but I didn’t want to leave Inspector Dice alone and I myself felt, not very good either, with his comments.”

_“I’m Sorry.”_ Virgil replied, antenna wilting and the bags under his eyes seeming heavier than before.

“Sorry for what? He was very rude to you; anybody would get angry with his blatant disregard of what was being said. I even said that if anything got overwhelming for you, that I would take over and you could take whatever time you needed. And since that happened, you took time to take care of yourself, and I did what I said I would do for you. There is nothing to apologise for.” Thomas smiled, even though Virgil had started to cry a little. “Oh, would you like a hug?”

Virgil tensed at that, looking around the empty commons.

“Currently there is a fifth of the regular crew aboard, all performing their relegated tasks, all crew members that do not have a shift are off ship or are on shore leave. The likelihood of someone walking in on us are very low for another hour and a half till break time for some of the engineering crew.” Logan spoke up, seeming to know exactly what Virgil was concerned about. With that knowledge though, Virgil’s shoulders relaxed, and after another moment’s hesitation Virgil signed, _“Yes.”_

Thomas shuffled around the other three, settling in beside Virgil before wrapping his arms around him, letting the swaddled Andorian lean into him and hopefully let him relax more, wiping away the escaped tears.

“You are not angry at Virgil, are you Thomas?” Logan asked.

“No, of course not.” Thomas gently replied, giving Virgil a slight squeeze when he felt him tensing again, knowing why Logan was asking these questions.

“Then you are also not upset that Virgil had to step away, correct.”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“Also, that you are not upset at Virgil’s performance, and his supposed outburst at the inspector?”

“No, I am not upset with any of Virgil’s actions today, rather, I am quite proud that he stood up to the inspector, defending our decisions and actions on a day that many did not have time to think about what they were to do.” Thomas answered, quite fond. He looked down when he felt shifting.

_“Tea?”_ Virgil asked.

“Tea it is.”

~*~


	2. Sciences

The next day came to soon.

This time it was just Thomas, Logan and Roman who greeted Inspector Dice. A message had been sent yesterday evening stating that tomorrows inspection was to focusing on the science division, which when Thomas had show Logan, had seemed pleased.

Currently he still seemed pleased, or at least less nervous than him or Roman, and from looking at Roman’s posture Thomas could tell that he was stiff and nervous, his hands behind his back fiddling with a small fidget cube. Inspector Dice stepped off the transport, looking as disinterested as he could be, already glancing at his data pad.

“M’kay, looks like you got word for today's plan, I understand that the science division is big, and the day is only so long, so let’s not waste day light people, lets go.”

“Biology first then?” Logan suggested, “I found that when exploring the samples we take from flora do not all take well to the suspension we place them in, and then when trying to cultivate them afterword, the samples don’t thrive. So, in efforts to preserve them we have converted a cargo bay that was beside a recreation room on the lower levels in to another biology lab. After that it was clear that we would need some more room, so a, creative solution was devised and from what the crew has reported, it had been a positive addition to the ship.” Logan lead them to the lift, selecting the floor. “The rec room itself is now turned into a area where the botanists can develop small ecological niches within the ship taken from readings on the planet the plants were acquired from, and once the plant has been tested and cleared we move it to the rec room half and with that it has begun as a sort of greenhouse in a way. Many studies do show that time spent in a more natural habitat can increase overall happiness, relieve stress and help keep a steadier circadian rhythm. So, with that it is open to the crew to be in, but there are the standard rules of keeping on the paths, do not touch the plants and if there are any sudden or strange changes, to yourself or the flora a call to the appropriate doctor or biologist is requested.”

“Requested? I thought you made it mandatory?” Roman asked, stepping out of the lift.

“Yes, it is mandatory, but we were receiving a lot of calls from worried crew mates that a plant was not looking very happy, and for us to look at it. Usually when the biologist went to take a look, the plant was okay and usually it is supposed to look in that manner, its just that the crew mate though the plant did not look so. We have since placed informational plaques and info tags available in the ship’s general information request servers, and the number of concerned people has decreased by 82%. Which does allow us to work with much less interruptions than before. Also, this section of the ship has seen the, least amount of damage and loss of information since the incident.”

They arrived at the rec room door, Logan palming it open, letting them access the large space before them. you could clearly see where the wall had been removed to conjoin the spaces, the support beams that were left to maintain structural integrity were climbing with vines of all sorts. To the right was the rec room half, the tables and chairs were kept but every other space, except for the paths to move around the altered room, was altered to house and contain the flora. Repurposed sheet metal had been cut and welded in to raised beds and large planters. Potting vases were all around placed into corners were light reached through, practically making a jungle. From the ceiling hung suspended different lights and bulbs, creating almost a rainbow of colours in the room with all the different plants, flowers, bushes and trees growing. To the left the cargo bay area had been converted into what looked like more of a garden center than a plant lab, but at this point those two could be interchangeable. Bags of dirt, soil samples, potting mixtures and fertilizers were stacked and laid out. A tower of different sized pots was tilting precariously and miniature greenhouses were sorted into aisles and rows, leaving a large open work area with tables placed around the area for work stations, all filled with as much science equipment as there were plants around them.

“When you said a storage bay and a rec room, this wasn’t quite what I was expecting it to be like. I assume you received permission to alter the ship in such ways.” Inspector Dice commented as he walked further into the garden.

“I assure you that we have followed all the regulations when altering the interior of the ship. Our engineers have verified that the structural integrity of the hull was not compromised. In addition, the load bearing beams have been reinforced in compensation for the lack of walls.” Logan answered.

“That sounds like a non answer to me, was this cleared with you Captain?” the Inspector asked.

“Mr. Logan came to me with all the plans and questions already answered before I even had to ask them. there are all the papers if you want to check also.” Thomas replied, walking around a rather large planter with a tree already a couple meters tall in it. “My crew does not do things half way.”

“I can see that.” Dice replied, and started to make his way to the lab half of the storage bay.

“I would be cautious over there, I’m not sure what’s out that could or could not hurt you.” Roman said.

“I can assure you that we do not propagate samples that have harmful substances that are readily available or accessible. Though if we did not take samples that do have harmful substances, we would be missing a large category of flora to study, so we have employed the greenhouses to create individual habitats and containment zones for study and analysis. We do make sure that any sample taken is immediately analysed to see what substances are compose within and properly handle the plant after that.” Logan assured, wandering over to a table and started to tidy up the supply’s there.

“So, any flora gets analysed and then you decide what grows?” Inspector Dice asked.

“We try to propagate everything, and we study those. After analysis we see if it goes into an isolation greenhouse or if it is safe for interaction, we put it out into the garden half and see how it grows in a more natural environment, with regards to being in the Bifrost.” 

“How long do the specimens survive for? And how do you know what the plants need for that growth?”

“We take the readings from the ecosystem they originated form and extrapolate living conditions from that, we do our best to group similar conditions together in the garden half, but space and strategically place force field can only do so much in a small space to keep the rainforest out of the arid grassland. And if all goes according to plan, the specimen should live for its natural life span, and hopefully by then, we know enough about that plant to propagate more of the species. Would you like to see how we try to propagate more plants from cuttings?” Logan asked after he explained.

“What I would like to know, is that when the ship goes into lockdown, what happens here? Of if the ship is damaged, how are resources routed along?” Dice asked and Logan’s hand’s stilled, faltering over top of the pot half full of dirt.

“This section of the ship closes down in lockdown just as in any other area of the ship. If there happens to be crewmembers within the garden or lab when such event occurs, and they are unable to get to their designated safe zones, there is a hard copy filing system here that we keep up to date with all the specimens information, which includes research and the data we collect. That is primarily how this section of our research has come out relatively unscathed. The files also contain information on what can be consumed and by generally which species, and also if the plant contains any known medicinal use, which could be need if a lockdown situation were to ever happen.” Logan’s hands slowly resumed their task, his eyes meeting Dice’s look. “As for resources, we have tried to create a closed system within in this space, so the plants exchange the needed gasses for growth, water and other liquids and nutrients are measured and analysed to see what each species takes out of the soil and what they put back into it. We have reservoir tanks in the back to cycle the liquids, and the ventilation filters out water to place into the tank also. We chose the rec room because of the window, so that the plants my receive some natural light from stars as we travel. An ecosystem is self sustaining, and we have done out best to emulate that here also.” Logan tactfully answered, voice taking hints of his explaining tone when he dolled out requested information.

“Interesting, was this system in place before or after the incident?” The inspector asked, writing again on his data pad.

“The archival safety net was in place before the incident, seeing that’s how the information and data had survived the breach, the crew members that were contained here used that information to sustain themselves till they were able to make it to their safe zones. We have now added the additional information that supplements the safety of the crew if such situation happens.”

Inspector Dice hummed and nodded. “Okay, that’s enough for here, the humidity is getting to my hair.” He turned and started walking to the door.

“Well, that is not rude at all, I was planning on spending another hour in here, there is much more to look at than just the plants.” Logan said quietly.

“I don’t think the Inspector is on anyone’s else’s plan except for his own.” Thomas replied just as quietly back, and started to follow after the inspector. Logan shook his head and wiped his hands clean, also moving and noticed that Roman had not yet moved, stood frowning at his communicator.

“Mr. Regio, are you going to stay here?” Logan called out from the doorway, making Roman look up sharply.

“Oh, uh, I’ll continue with you, apologies for making you wait.”

“Apologies accepted.” Logan nodded and started to lead the Inspector to the upper deck labs. Roman fell in line with Thomas behind the two.

“Is everything alright Roman?” Thomas whispered, glancing at Roman’s face, which had a slight pinch to it, eyes looking worried.

“Yes, everything is fine.” Roman replied, though he didn’t sound very convincing.

“You know that if something is troubling you, you can talk about it, any of us will listen, and if its something more than that, Emile’s door is always open, and you know xe will always listen.”

“I know, but this is something that does not matter, and shouldn’t be worried over, its fine.”

“Well, if it become something that does matter, let us know, okay?” Thomas asked. Roman just nodded.

They eventually arrived at the upper deck labs. An open floor plan that had transparent and opaque sliding walls to make functional rooms that could change if needed. But instead of that clean and sterile looking science lab look, it, was kind of messy. Walls were dented and some clear ones were shattered, laying glass all around. Equipment and supplies seemed to be shoved on top of each other on upright tables and desks, while other larger equipment still laid tipped over. Piles of broken equipment laid on the floor and unfinished sweeping left piles of broken glass and small pieces of metal here and there. One small cubby just held damaged and broken chairs and tables. A wall to the left that held filing cabinets looked more like a firing range and nearby shelving looked like something had spilt on it and subsequently melted the metal it was composed of. Even though there was noticeable cleanup, there was a faint tinge of some acrid burnt smell in the air.

“Wow, and I thought engineering looked terrible.” Inspector Dice stated walking in.

“This section here is still the least cleaned up, since it was the most damaged. The other lab sections are a lot cleaner and mostly has resumed function.” Logan answered.

“We thought that if we worked on the least damaged areas first, we can get more repaired and working again, and then once we are in port and can restock on supplies, we can tackle the larger issues. And this one is the largest issue.” Thomas explained, moving around a dented wall section that looked to be shoved out of place.

“Do I want to even touch anything in here? Let alone breath the air in here?” Dice asked.

“I wouldn’t touch anything unless you have a cleaning suit on, there is still a lot of glass shards everywhere. The smell is just residual from the fire, the fire damaged items have been contained already.” Roman replied.

“That is reassuring in the least.”

“It’s the best I can give you.” Roman shrugged.

“Which lab was this one?” Dice didn’t look pleased at Roman’s answer.

“This section was primarily used for studying and interpretation the data we received from our short-range sensors about near passing objects and the effects they have on the ship and other gravitational-”

“Astronomy, and physics,” Roman interrupted Logan. “This lab was used to study stars as we passed by them and the physics they execute on the surrounding area.”

“We were tasked to chart the stars on our mission and see if there was anything interesting as we looked at them.” Thomas explained further. “Since that was our primary mission and our focus, it seemed to be where the concentration of the sabotage, we have lost approximately 32% of our logged data and findings, but there may be more since we are still seeing how far the corruption has affected the servers. Its… an ongoing process.” Thomas sighed, shoulders sagging a bit for a moment before being pulled back up. “But I’m glad that it was only information that we have lost, and nothing more.”

“Yup, sounds good, this place smells, and there really isn’t that much to see, so what’s next? And a lunch break is hopefully soon, I am starting to feel famished.” Dice said, turning and leaving the room he was two steps into.

“Virgil said that he indifferent, but I did not expect his evaluation to underestimate the actual man. That is twice in a row that he has walked out on us in the middle of discussion.” Logan mentioned.

“Remy did say that he was a bitch.” Roman mentioned back.

“I do not take Mr. Dormir’s opinion into account unless it is within their field of study, they are known for over exaggerating incidental occurrences and that does not lend itself to factual study.”

“I kind of think that seeing how people behave is just part of Remy and how they work, and knowing if that is being bitchy, then that person is bitchy, and they’re not usually wrong.”

“That may be just because they find companionship with Dr. Picani, and find discussion upon behaviour analysis.”

“Just because Remy and Emile hang out does not mean that Rem is just learning from xem, some people are just good at reading others and understanding how they behave, and that Emile is a psychologist does not necessarily lend to that.”

“Regardless of how proficient they are at understanding someone’s behaviours; it does not mean that they know how to diagnose someone with ‘little bitch syndrome’.”

“Little Bitch- you were just pulling my leg, weren’t you?”

“I assure you I was not pulling on your leg; I was not touching you in the slightest.”

“Right, and people say that you can’t take a joke, when half the time you are making the joke.”

“Vulcans do not entertain humour in the same manner that Humans do.”

“You grew up on Earth I though?”

“My planet of residence does not change the fact that I am a Vulcan.”

“No, but you grew up around Humans, and exposed to all our weird and fun ways of living, which includes our humour, just call yourself multilingual and laugh at a joke when you get it, which I know you get them all.”

“Guys, I think we should make sure the inspector does not get lost, he’s already halfway down the hallway.” Thomas reminded them.

“Acknowledged Captain, I suggest chemistry next?” Logan nodded heading out to the hallway.

“What ever will please you Mr. Logan.” Thomas replied.

“He has the most subtly humour I have ever seen.” Roman said. “I never expect it and by the time he’s halfway through a joke I am just realising that it is a joke.”

“And usually the but of the joke too.” Thomas supplied, lightly laughing.

“You don’t have to say it out loud. We both like word play and a worthy opponent is something of a hard thing to come by.”

“Logan must have a hard time finding one then.” Thomas smiled when the words clicked for Roman, and his face morphed to one of utter offence in that over dramatic manner that Roman liked to play on, an affronted hand splaying over his chest.

“Excuse me, I am more than a worthy opponent for Logan to challenge, just as he is a match for me. Talk to Virgil about our tally count, you can see is pretty on par with each other.”

“I am sure you have not won anything against Logan since that impromptu rap battle.”

“That does not count, but we haven’t really had time to plan any game nights recently either.”

“Yes, I know, soon though, once everything is cleaned up and finalised, and we get back to our routine, we get back to exploring, everything will be fine, and we’ll be all fine.” Thomas reassured.

“That almost sounds like your thinking it’s a fantasy right now.”

“With how this inspection is going it almost could be. I have no idea what Inspector Dice is thinking and he just keeps scribbling on his pad and gives no indication to if we are or are not passing the right criteria. And its not very reassuring in the least, even though I know we have done all the right things in the past months with clean up and all the paper work, and finally being able to get in to port for inspection and final clearance. Its… it is just a lot.”

“I know it’s a lot, don’t think we can’t tell when you don’t get enough sleep.”

“I know, I know, I just worry a lot sometimes.”

“We know, but trust us that we will be by your side, and we will get through with this. And trust Logan to so subtly insult the inspector it will take two days before he realises, he was insulted, and by a Vulcan no less.”

“Indeed, we better go catch up unless we want the Inspector roasted by Logan’s dry wit.”

“That may or may not be a bad thing.” Roman laughed, and that sparked a small laugh in Thomas too.

They made it to the chemistry lab, without the Inspector being roasted to bad, and made their way through to biochemistry and chemical engineering. A lunch break was had, which was not as awkward as yesterday’s, but conversation was still very stilted between everyone. After that the rest of the time was spent going through geology and archeology. The two sections that were not the focus of the ships mission but still had gathered a fair amount of data and research just from the sheer volume of planets they had visited on their journeys.

At the end of the day, which it was a long day, didn’t seem to have come soon enough, but when it did there was a palatable sense of relief when the Inspector beamed off the ship. Roman’s impeccable posture released and his shoulders sank into a much more relaxed state, letting out a sigh.

“I was almost that close to punching him in the face.” He stated, pinching his fingers just close enough to emphasis his statement. “He kept talking over you Logan and ignoring you attempts of conversation. How rude can he be!”

“It seems as rude as he wants to be, seeing that he is the one who is inspecting our ship, and could not pass us upon review if he decides that we are not fit to resume active duty.”

“That was a rhetorical question, but thank you for the clarification of how easily messing up is.”

“It was not-”

“Don’t start, not right now at least.” Thomas interrupted. “I don’t think I have the energy to hear you both squabble over what both your statements meant.”

“I concede then Captain.” Logan nodded.

“It's not squabbling! Just a friendly debate.” Roman tried to justify himself, witch just let him receive an eyebrow raise from Logan and a very exasperated look from Thomas. “Okay, okay, I’ll leave that alone, topic is dropped.”

“Thank you, both of you. Logan, you did an excellent job of the science division inspection. And Roman you were great support for when things got tense, and you showed how good of a First Officer you are. I think we have this inspection more under wraps as we go.” Thomas smiled.

“That, that is really good to hear Thomas, thank you.” Roman smiled back.

“Indeed, that is, pleasing to know that you are reassured in our success.” Logan replied “And I believe that Mr. Koutavi mentioned to me this morning before the inspection started, that once we were done, to inform him so that he could prepare some comfort food. I assume that he is prepared to help alleviate stress and tension, based off of Mr. Sollicitus’ stress reaction yesterday with interaction with Inspector Dice.

“Patton’s fresh baked cookies would be a wonder right now. Please let him know that we accept.” Thomas answered.

“Yes, that would be divine.” Roman nodded.

“I already informed him; I believe we are to meet in the communal kitchen then?”

“Lead the way.” Thomas gestured for Logan to once again lead the way. And as usual, the cookies were delicious.


	3. Health and Medical

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol, university, two months, +6600 words later i give you the next chapter,   
> like always, let me know if there is anything for spell check that i missed, and enjoy
> 
> there is a sense of ableism in reference to Dice's attitude towards Roman and his ADHD, so a content warning for that

Patton was feeling all sorts of bad, most of it was nervousness though, and some of that was even from himself too.

Roman was the largest culprit, tension high and tight in his shoulders, fingers fidgeting with his cube, the click almost quiet but till just audible. Thomas felt more composed, but still just as nervous. Familiarity and having this be the third day in a row of encountering this man led him to feeling more confident, but still just as concerned as the first day. Emile’s nervousness was the most nebulous to feel, xems own empathic abilities somewhat projecting, even though xe was doing xems best to keep it tight. The ensign that was at the control panel was too far away to feel, but her tone was stiff and that was just as telling as anything else that the whole atmosphere of the room felt tight.

“We received confirmation that the Inspector is ready to transport over Captain.”

“Okay, beam him over.” Thomas nodded, a new flicker of apprehension flaring up and Romans hands stilled tensely around his cube.

The light was bright for a few seconds, and the inspector with his data pad stood there on the platform, a Starfleet insignia printed scarf wrapped around his neck was new, but it still didn’t make him seem any more approachable.

“Okay, we are going to medical today, so that will be the medical wing, the fitness area and then the therapist. So, medical wing first then.” Dice stated walking off the platform without a greeting.

“Actually, we should start with something less overwhelming, then when we are finished with the less taxing parts if the inspection, we can proceed to the more intensive parts with enough energy to do it just as well as if we were to start the day with it, and then we can have a productive day with equally successful evaluations of all the different sections we are to look through today.” Emile spoke up.

Inspector Dice’s brow raised in skepticism, an analysing look sweeping over xem. “So, if there is no objection from the Captain for an unprompted opinion, we should just throw the days plan out the window then Mr. …”

“Dr. Picani, and my pronouns are xir/ xem, and it is a pleasure to formally make your acquaintance Inspector Dice. We are not ‘throwing out the days plan’ at all, rather structuring it in a way that will be the most beneficial to all who are with us today. The least overwhelming would be the therapist’s office, which would be toured by me first, then we would go to the fitness section next, where it falls under mine and Mr. Koutavi’s supervision, then that would take up the morning till lunch, we can rest, eat and be ready for the longer inspection of the medical wing that falls under Mr.Koutavi’s care.”

“Hmm, what do you think about this Captain Sanders?” the Inspector asked.

“I think Dr. Picani’s advice is sound, xe has always provided sound and reliable advice in the realm of health management, and xir advice on today's agenda seems to be a good plan for time and fatigue management for today.” Thomas nodded.

“Well, as good of a plan you may seem to think it is, we have to do the med bay first and we are wasting time here chatting.” Inspector Dice flicked his stylus in his direction. “Mr. Koutavi, the medical wing.”

After a stuttered moment, and the flickering wave of emotions from everyone else Patton nodded his head. “Oh, of course, uh, if you would follow me then please.” He waved for everyone to follow. “The medical wing, like on most ships, is very centrally located on the ship so its, of course, easy to get to from all points. It's no more than five minutes on a walk, and you can make it three if you run. Although running is discouraged in the halls, but people do have their reasons. We, of course do have internal transport for emergencies, but they are for emergencies.” Patton rambled a bit as the group walked.

The Inspector was close, but not always close enough to get a sound reading on his feelings, and paired with that he is a new person and unfamiliar to him, made it a little more difficult to decipher the more ambiguous emotions, but overall he felt of annoyance, which was not helping Patton keep his composure. Everyone else who was close enough felt nervous and on Thomas and Emile’s half annoyed and hurt, which Patton felt was from the Inspectors rejection of Emile’s proposed agenda, which also in Patton’s opinion would have been a good one. The tense air around them would have been broken by xeir skills of small talk and getting people to open up. But all the focus was on him, not xem. Roman’s feelings were fleeting, whispers of nervousness- anxious- worry- concern seemed to cycle through him, and he could tell the anxious- worry- concern wasn’t all directed to the inspection, but he couldn’t focus on that right now. They were closing in on the med bay.

The doors opened with a swoosh and the familiar light clean smell calmed some frayed feelings in him. “Well, here is the main med bay, general admittance, check up’s and the ‘oops I got hurt and need immediate help’ type of things all report here first and we sort out everyone from there depending on how many people are here for doctors. We have the usual staffing numbers and shift rotation plan as per Starfleet regulations. We just took an inventory of our stock and we have good records of supplies going in and being used and all that paperwork stuff. Is there uh, any questions you have?” Patton walked them into the bay proper, the tidy beds all lined up, it was pretty standard fare. Roman gave an anxious but encouraging thumbs up to him when the Inspector wasn’t looking in his direction.

“Any questions I have?” Inspector Dice asked aloud as he circled the room. “A question I have for you, is it Mr. or Doctor. Koutavi?”

“Uh, either or both? My people don’t use family titles the same way.”

“So, what do people address you by then?”

“I believe the words translate best to the word ‘dad’ in English, though other paternal names are used too, padre from Spanish is common, and my chosen name also.”

“So, anything but formal titles are used?”

“Not at all! It is quite an honour to be called part of one’s family when we are not actually related through family ties, and especially if it is a caretaking role. That shows a lot of trust, and I intent to never hurt that trust the crew places on me.”

“Not even I am going to call you Dr. Dad. Koutavi is your last name, correct?” Patton could tell the Inspector was getting frustrated.

“Koutavi is my family title, yes.”

“So, everyone in you family has ‘Koutavi’ as part of their name, yes?”

“Yes, they do.”

“Okay, and for clarification, you went through medical school, convocated and pursued a doctorate to finish your degree, correct?”

“That’s correct. Was that not made clear or informed to you? I would not be the chief medical officer of the Bifrost if I wasn’t. Was that the question you were wanting to ask?”

“No, that wasn’t! It’s Dr. Koutavi then right?”

“What? You can just call me Patton like everyone else does. I just informed you my family title isn’t used in that way. Are you feeling alright if you forgot that already? You look like you’re in good health. Though there can be many things that don’t show physically.” It was like a bright flair, the spike of frustration from Inspector Dice, and Patton fought to keep his face neutral.

“I am in perfect health Dr.- Patt- Mr. Koutavi. Dice looked to his pad, stylus a sharp swipe and click on the screen. Roman and Emile were doing their best to cover up their elation, but Patton could feel their bubbly mirth even if they had covered their smiles and were trying to compose themselves. Thomas’ outward composure had not broken, but he could feel him taking humour in this also. It felt a lot better than before.

“My question, Mr.Koutavi, since you opened the floor to questions, is that in an emergency, what do you do?”

“Oh, well, there are lots of different types of emergencies of course. If someone’s appendix is bursting, they go to surgery prep right away. If someone broke a bone, they go for scanning, so we know how to mend it back together right. If someone has a really bad headache and the walls are ringing to them, we get them to a more quiet and stimulus reduced area, and we work from there to learn what happened to trigger the symptoms, and how we can help them so that that can be avoided as much as possible. There are countless medical emergencies a med bay sees.”

“I am actually thinking of one type of emergency in particular right now. What would you do, hypothetically speaking of course, if the ship was compromised? And in a manner that communications failed, there’s a sudden influx of injured crew members, and half the power goes out? The Inspector asks directly, and all the bubbly happiness that was starting to develop went flat. Doused in cold ice and running a sharp flush from his ears to his toes, emotions feeling heavy all around now and Patton stumbled over them.

“Well- uh, the thing is, uh, is that, these- these types of emergences can’t be planned for. But, uh, since you said it was hypothetical, the med bay has two power sources and the back up generator and batteries, so even if half the ship went on a blackout, and part of the power source for the bay was compromised, we would still have energy to operate the bay at full capacity.”

“What if all the regular power went out?”

“Then the back up batteries and generator would kick in, and if people are hurt we’d call engineering to see if they had the resources and time to reroute power to here, but its understandable if other things are prioritized over the med bay, like getting the ship it self out of danger so that we stop any more damage.

“The thing is though, in this emergency, communications are cut off somehow, how do you contact engineering?”

“Well, we’d double check all the frequencies on out communicators, and see if any outside signal is going in. If that does not work, I’d check the ship wide intercom, because the computer has access to all speakers on the ship to broadcast announcements, and in an emergency we could override, hypothetically, the announcement to communicate with all other areas, like an open radio channel as long as you have a connected microphone, which when you have a communicator it isn’t actually that difficult to open the casing and ask a lightly injured ensign who knows circuity and computers to rewire that into the system and finally be able to figure out what in the world is happening.” Patton answered in a short ramble, hands fiddling with his cuffs and this very direct, yet, ‘hypothetical’, situation.

The Inspector hummed and took a minute to scribble onto his data pad, the silence tense around them. Romans posture was almost too perfect and at attention, but he could tell from the bubbly anxious want-to-move feeling that his hands behind his back were probably moving a mile a minute over his cube. Emile was looking down, avoiding eye contact, and even with how well xe pulled in xir emotions, it still felt a lot like second-hand embarrassment, and Thomas, he almost looked faint. Colour had drained from his face a bit, a shade too pale to be good, and he was a flood of admonishment, disbelief, flabbergast and concern, and a thousand other little feelings that mixed and swirled together that were unnameable.

“I see, but what if-”

“There wasn’t any what-ifs!” Roman snapped, and a broken rubber band of emotions whipped around the room, his arms reflecting his emotions. “What happened, happened. And if Starfleet can imagine how or why we survived when practically any other ship would go down, then ask us how we did it! Stop interrogating us like we are the ones that messed up when it was not our fault that through all of training and evaluations a mole wasn’t found. The villain was caught and detained, and we’re here left to pick up the pieces so don’t make this any more difficult than it has to be and already is.” Roman’s statement brought a silence with it, the low hum of machinery on standby now the only audible sound beside the deep breaths Roman was taking to compose himself with.

The Inspector didn’t seem to flinch at his words. “I’m only the inspector, if Starfleet wants to figure out hypotheticals, then that’s what I’m going to be paid to do. I am going to make sure that it is done.”

“There is nothing hypothetical about this situation at all! It has happened! It is in the past of things that have happened!” Emile took a sidestep as Roman moved forward, giving him space. “And yes, in all possibilities, it could happen again, and I understand the merit of being prepared for that. But we have been treating you with all the utmost respect, but we have received very little from you. I am not that sure on how Starfleet expects its inspectors to perform, but I take my duties and oaths very seriously, and as First Officer you can be sure that I will do my best to ensure that you yourself will have a very reliable review of your own performance.” The stress and tension simmered into a low flame of anger and seething just kept under control.

“Are you threatening me, Mr. Regio?”

“No, I am giving you a warning, Inspector Dice.”

“Captain Sanders, do you encourage this out of line speaking?”

“Of course not,” a ripple of shock-betrayal flooded from Roman. “But I do encourage my officers and the rest of the crew to voice their opinions when they think it is imperative for it to be heard, whether that may be a new idea on a science project, or on interpersonal relationship and connections, and especially in high stress situations where the safety and integrity of the crew is a concern. And in my humble opinion, I believe Mr. Regio voiced some pressing concerns that we have all had, which is proper for the first officer to bring up.” A wave of relief and hints of pride sparked up.

“It seems that it is an appropriate topic.” Dice seemed composed again, going back to scribbling on the pad. He did glance back up a Roman though. “First Officer Regio, what is in your hand?”

“My hand?” Roman looked down, hands stilling from the absent motions on the cube. “Its my fidget cube.” He answered as if the object in his hand obvious.

“Why do you have a toy with you? Its distracting.”

“It is not a toy, and it is not distracting! It helps with my ADHD, thank you very much. It has not been a problem, and there will not be a problem with it.”

“Yet you have been playing with it this whole time.”

“I’m not-”

“I actually recommended it for Mr. Regio, and thusly it is a help aid for health reasons, not a, toy as you say.” Emile spoke up interrupting Roman. “Combined type can show physical attributes of restlessness and other indicators that may be harmful if not managed properly, this just gives him a healthy method to work with that.”

“Roman’s ADHD does not affect his performance or his professionalism in the least.” Patton spoke up, a realm of emotions flickering around him. “In fact, for some standardized tests in comparison to other crew members show Romans method of processing information let him, so called ‘connect the dots’ on par with how Vulcans process information. And he brings a unique point of view with that, so I see no problem in letting him have a fidget cube so he can focus better on work.” A settled feeling formed, a hesitant quiet as Inspector Dice looked between them all before he spoke up.

“Seeing as the fidget cube is an assistance tool, I’m going to leave it alone this time. I do believe it is lunchtime now, and I for one could go for a parfait and some soup. I hope your replicator can do a fine job of that.” He turned and started walking out and called behind himself. “I also have no idea which way the mess hall is from here, so an escort would be wonderful if you all decide not to go.”

A burst of exasperated frustration came from Thomas before it was compacted down, a breathing pattern counted out before an exterior composure was settled. “Just wait a minute here please, I’ll walk him to the rec room.” Thomas said in a low voice before walking out of the med bay. Roman made to move, but Emile held out xir arm, halting him.

“Let’s listen to Thomas, and maybe do some calming breathing exercises. I don’t think we want to make the inspector any more frustrated than he already seems to be.”

“I just- I, okay, ya. That sounds good.” The three of them took a minute to breath, and the prickles of frustration ebbed away a little bit before they started to make their way to the mess hall.

“Why did you say that you prescribed the fidget cube? I’ve been using them since, like I was ten.” Roman asked.

“I was not going to let him mock the use of a very helpful tool, especially with one that has good studies behind it showing for the benefit they do give. And that it is not a distraction if it’s used by those who really do benefit from their use. I could not also have him insult you like that, you are creative and smart, and you worked hard to get to where you are now. Having a fidget cube does not discredit anything at all.” Emile assured.

“And also,” Patton pipped up. “He does not know your history, if we say you need it, then you can use it and he can’t say a thing on it.”

“I- thank you both, for defending me and for helping diffuse that situation. That could have gone quite out of hand rapidly if he kept yapping on it.”

“Of course, Roman, that’s what family is for.” Emile smiled and Patton caught the edges of gratitude from both of them.

Lunch was more tense than usual even if this was the first, and hopefully only meal Patton would have to share with the Inspector. Thomas’ posture and interactions were purely formal in comparison to his usual fun and open chatter and bright laughter when he was in the rec room or commons with the crew. Usually Roman would be talking also, telling stories and jokes and making a small riot with how well he engaged those around him, a natural spotlight drawing attention to him when his mischievous smiles lit up with humour. Now though, it looked, and felt, like he was trying to minimise the amount of attention brought to him, quiet and discreet in his movements. And for the rest of the crew that was on board today sharing the same lunch break, the difference was noticeable. The whole atmosphere felt subdued, and the normal chatter was almost gone. Conversations were much quieter than they usually were. The only person who didn’t really feel off put to Patton was the Inspector, and it was almost a smug feeling in Patton with the thought that the Inspector wouldn’t know how fun the crew was when they were allowed to relax and interact with each other. How close and happy they all were with each other, but he also didn’t see how his presence reminded everyone of something that everyone was doing their best to work over and not get more hurt by. The Inspector didn’t see that the commons fell quiet on certain subjects and a lull happened in the mess hall when people got stuck in their own heads thinking. That this was a normal that was not the old normal, and that it will still be evolving into a new normal once he was done with his inspection and gone.

The hollow vacuum sound of an empty drinking straw in ice trying to suck up the dredges at the bottom of an empty glass rang out over the quiet conversations, drawing more than one side glance as Patton looked up from his now cold pasta. He almost expected it to be Remy with one of their iced coffees, drawing attention to themself before they had something to speak about, and the quiet around them would not stand. They would have the whole place talking, engaged with whatever gossipy story they heard, social life high.

It was the Inspector though, finished with his meal, and at this point the fatigue Patton was feeling doubled when he spoke up, and he was not sure if that was all his own at this point.

“For a replicator that was satisfactory as I think it could be, don’t you think?” he asked. His sower mood somehow gone, but Patton wasn’t sure if the question itself was sarcastic or not, or if he was asking that as a question or making a statement on the quality of the ship’s food replicators. “There is nothing like an in-house chef though, but what can you do when your floating through space in an over glorified space rocket.” Dice chuckled and Patton learned his previous statement was an ironic question.

“I say that the Bifrost has an excellent replicator system if you know how to put together a meal or program the food items in.” Emile answered, seemingly not noticing that it was not a question to be answered, but the friendly smile xe was giving informed Patton that xe knew exactly what xe was doing.

“You program your own code for the system? How are you sure that unauthorised entries will not bug up the system?”

“Of course we program our own food. We have 28 distinct species on the ship, and all with their own dietary needs to be met and fulfilled. I doubt that the pre programmed selections will cover everyone’s preferred tastes. And we have excellent coders and people willing to try new foods, even if they come out a little bland or discoloured the first few times we try it.”

“Captain, were you aware that this was happening? There is a reason there are authorised programs for the system.”

“I am well aware that this is happening Inspector. As the Captain, everything is passed by me first before implementation. And a fun fact, Inspector, no where in the rules says that adding to the food database is illegal, as long as the code has been tested and free of bugs verified by Starfleet personnel, which we do have aboard. But above all, that a captain’s want for a tuna fish bagel can not be pleased by a paltry mimicry of someone who does not know how good the sandwich tastes, and if so, drastic measures by the crew were taken to fix the so called issue.” Thomas practically monologues, eyes of the crew members around them intent on him, flickers of curiosity and amusements from the closest ensigns had Patton smiling a bit, the good ol’ feeling of shenanigans happening.

“Drastic measures by how?” The Inspector seemed wary of asking the question.

“By going behind my back and calling my own mom to get the proper recipe from her, and then program that into the replicator for my birthday, so that I could have a ‘home made lunch’ just like what mom would make for me. And it was a surprise, especially since the recipe was off balance and there was way too much mayo in the mix.” Thomas gave out a light laugh, and that was probably the first laugh Patton heard from him in a week.

“We’ve fixed though!” Emile insisted, playing on Thomas’ better feelings.

“I know you guys have, but it still took 17 tries to get it right.”

“That’s because your mom doesn’t follow the recipe she gave us, and you like way to much lemon juice and celery than is needed.”

“It’s what makes it taste good though!” Thomas bantered.

“And that’s why only you ever eat it.” Emile bantered back.

“It was my birthday present, and if no one else eats it more for me then.”

“You know that’s not how the replicators work.”

“A man can imagine an endless source of his mom’s tuna.”

“That’s basically what we did give you.”

“And I’m all the more happier for it.” Thomas was smiling big now, and little bubbles of amusement and happiness were popping up around them.

“Welp,” The Inspectors voice cut in between, stylus a sharp slice of a sound on his data pad, “As informative as that was, the add-ins are still unauthorised, and the day is dragging on. I do believe I still need to see the fitness area and therapy. Time is ticking and you all seem to be running out of it, lets go before I waste any more time.” Inspector Dice stood, and the bubbles fizzled out around them, going stale like flat pop. Thomas stood and fixed his shirt, nodding, prompting the rest of them.

“Fitness is this way, Inspector,” Thomas started, leading them out of the rec room.

It was an admittedly quiet walk to the fitness center. And it also once again felt nervous, and stiff. Whatever happier feelings were gained during lunch were pretty much gone now. Thomas lead them efficiently, taking the most direct route, and thankfully started the conversation when they were almost there.

“Throughout the ship we have the regulatory gyms so that there is easy access for all of those who want to have regular fitness routines, but this one here near most the med bay is the largest of them all and is used by the ships physicians for the crews quarterly physical and, as I understand physiotherapy and other health related actions.” The doors slid open, revealing the large area. To the front left there was the usual earth- based equipment for muscle building, and other cardio and endurance training, but beside that was a collection of distinctly non earth- based fitness equipment taking up almost a quarter of the room. The far-right corner had combative mats and padding going up almost to halfway up the walls where the left had climbing structures, including a rock wall and various styles of ropes going up to almost the ceiling. They moved to the open space to the right, the light padding squishing under their feet.

Patton caught Roman moving to one of the bins along the wall, reflection showing up in the mirror and pulling out a hula hoop, some foam dodgeballs and a misplaced workout stepper, the plastic feet falling off the plank making a small clatter, drawing attention to him. The Inspector looked unimpressed, eyebrow raising, Thomas just looked exasperated. “Sorry! I’m just looking for- Ah! I found one! They always seem to fall to the bottom of the bins.” Roman smiled, victoriously pulling out a tangled skipping rope. “Don’t worry, I’ll put this all away.” He said gesturing to the scattered workout equipment at his feet, starting to detangle the rope.

“You are not going to play jump rope, really?” The inspector asked, his voice matching his unimpressed look.

“I don’t see why not? Who doesn’t love jumping?” Roman asked back putting some space around him, pulled the rope clear of itself, and swinging it, skipping over the line easily.

“I don’t love jumping.” The Inspector said flatly.

“Oh, well, I do. And I can do some tricks to.” Roman crossed his arms, skipping through the loop, and twisted around, keeping the rope in the same rotation but now jumping with it approaching him from behind. He crossed the rope again, switching so that he was facing them but still skipping backwards. “I can do a few more, but I’d rather be in workout clothes for those, and maybe a longer rope also, this one is kind of short.” Roman ended the trick slowing his skipping to a stop.

“As nice as that is, we are here for the inspection, not to do some skipping. As I understand Dr. Picani and Mr. Koutavi you both oversee the fitness of the crew, correct?”

They glanced between each other and Emile squared xir shoulders. “That is correct. Dr. Koutavi alongside the rest of the medical team does quarterly health exams of the crew, which does include a physical evaluation of fitness against the standardised guidelines for their species. We take into account of their bodies natural homeostasis and their habits and routine so if there are any health concerns it is easy to review and implement a fitness routine if that is the course to take.” Emile explained.

“We also do a lot more than that!” Patton tried to put a bubbly pep into his voice, because of what he could feel from the Inspector, it was feeling pretty sour after Romans demonstration. “We plan rec leagues and encourage clubs to form, because fitness and an active lifestyle is more than just lifting weights or running the track route once a week. Having friends to do something with and to encourage you to be active is a big part of it, and some friendly competition is always good for moral and team building. On the far wall between the climbing area and the tumble mat area there’s a ‘leader board’ of past records and winning teams for the different activities that are planned throughout the year. There are some pretty impressive records if I do say so myself.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Inspector Dice’s voice was flat. “Everything looks to be in order. All the equipment has had its own safety inspection and the like?”

“Yes, they have,” Roman spoke up, finishing putting away the equipment. “The engineers have the inspections under wraps, the reports and repair sheets are filed away with the other logs in the system.” 

“Great, off to therapy with Dr. Picani, correct?”

“Yes! That is with me. As the ship’s counselor, I work with Dr. Koutavi to ensure that the health of all those aboard the Bifrost, are healthy, and that includes mental health. We’ll head to my office if you don’t mind, its set up to be the counseling room.”

The walk to Dr. Picani’s office was quick, xe’s upbeat one sided conversation between ximself and the Inspector felt artificial, Patton could feel from Emile that xe was just as much feeling the emotions around xim to help judge the next course of action, and hopefully appeal to the Inspector in a favourable manner. Everyone was feeling tired was really the main emotion of the group and to him that clouded out most of the other nuanced feelings, and it wasn’t helping that he was getting fatigued also. It was getting to be a very occupied day, with little time for actual breaks to rest from all the feelings of other people. The group stopped walking, and Patton looked up, finding that they were at Emile’s office, xim punching in the door code. 

“-we also have rooms off to the side of the main office-” A loud voice spoke over Emile’s as the door swooshed open.

“Em! Hon, you wouldn’t believe the day I had, oh-” Remy stopped talking when they raised their head from the almost uncomfortable looking lounging position on the sofa, half empty iced coffee dangling from their hand. “I thought you guys were planning on doing the counselor’s first.” They asked, sitting up proper on the seat.

“That was the propose idea, but Inspector Dice proposed his own plan and that was the one we decided to follow for today's agenda instead.” Emile stepped fully in, letting the rest of them inside xems office space.

“So, you’re all doing this last then? No wonder you all look like shit, ya’ll could all take a good nap and I wouldn’t mind taking one to after the day I had in engineering.”

“Mr. Dormir!” Thomas said astonished, “You know the language policy.”

“Hey, I was just stating an observation, I know I look like shit and I want a nap, but here I am drinking coffee waiting for Emile to get back. So, when you all walk in, looking dead on your feet, don’t mind my comparison.”

“Mr. Dormir,” Dice spoke up, writing on his data pad, “Are you always this, frivolous?”

“Only when it seems I need to be, and that really only happens when people are bitchy around me, but that can be for a lot of different reasons, but for you, it's just you that brings it out.”

“Mr. Dormir!” Thomas said again, indignant but passed over.

“Pardon me?” the Inspector asked, and Patton could feel a whole wave of offended rising up from him. Remy’s stubborn temper felt like it was starting to take head and if that was established, well.

“I think you heard me the first time I said it, you just don’t believe it, but I’ll say it again, and even simpler too. You a bitch.”

“Ensign Remy Dormir! That is enough!” Thomas almost yelled, voice loud enough in the small office stopping the argument in its tracks. “That is no way to speak to a guest and higher-ranking fellow, we will need to talk later on this, but I ask you right now to please leave.”

Remy acquiesced, giving a sigh before moving, yet they stopped their travel to the door, right in front of the inspector, and looked him up and down once, taking a long sip of their drink. “You do know that scarf is tacky as hell, right?” they turned, and left before anyone could reply.

“Am I to assume that that is typical behaviour of Mr. Dormir?” Inspector Dice asked.

“No, that is not typical of them.” Thomas answered. “And as I said, I will be discussing this with them.”

“What were they doing in here anyways? I thought most of the crew is on shore leave?”

“Yes, most of the crew is,” Emile spoke up, walking around to xems desk, and flipping though some sheets and files. “I believe Mr. Dormir was here for their weekly session since they are a part of the crew that is currently on board for repairs and maintenance.” Emile felt and sounded tired.

“You are still holding appointments while docked for shore leave? I would have thought that they would be postponed till the Bifrost is cleared.” The Inspector asked, little dots of curiosity.

“As much as that would be true, unfortunately the ship only has one therapist and I can only do so much myself for the crew, and consistent schedules and routines help a lot with trauma recovery. And in the idea of keeping a stable and consistent situation, I am still holding appointments. If I was to suspend them during repairs, it could be a few weeks till they resume, and I do not want that for my patients.”

“Couldn’t you just refer them to some therapists on shore then, if your so worried about it?” Dice asked.

“I have already done so. I have contacted Starfleet upon that and per regulations everyone is going through examinations to ensure that they are cleared for active duty once the Bifrost is cleared. I am just ensuring that those who have shown a more severe reaction have access to therapy whenever they need it.”

The inspector just nodded and scribbled some more on his data pad, feelings of curiosity sliding into satisfaction, and Patton thought that that was a quite curious turn. “I think I have seen all I have needed to today. That will be all, back to the transport pad then.” Dice turned and left the office, and a flair of irritation came from Thomas who turned to guide the Inspector away.

“I’ll just send him off, okay.” He said, and the three of them didn’t move to follow.

“Hey Pat, what’s wrong?” Roman said after a moment, concern flavouring his tone.

“What? Nothing.”

“You do know your crying, right?” he said gently, and Patton felt the wet trickle of tears roll down as he blinked. His hand coming away wet when he wiped it away.

“Oh, I guess I am.” And that awareness broke the proverbial dam he’d been shoring up all day, and he started to cry in earnest.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry harder!” Roman worried.

“No, it's not that.” He said through sniffles. “Its- Its just-”

“It's all the emotions.” Emile filled in when he couldn’t continue, and he nodded his head yes.

“Pat, would you like a hug?” Roman asked, arms already open.

He nodded, and stepped toward the embrace, tucking his head in the crook of Roman’s shoulder, he looked over to Emile, and xe came too, grabbing the box of tissues off the desk and joined the hug, xems own tears starting to slide down xems cheeks.

Roman hummed quietly, and the feeling of comfort-hurt soothed some of the more ragged edges of Patton’s own feelings, that he wasn’t alone with feeling these feelings that were a tight swirling goopy mess that was starting to get heavy in his chest and it wasn’t making it easy to take full breaths.

Their communicators buzzed in succession. And Emile pulled xems out. “It’s from Logan, he says that I am invited to a, in quotation marks, ‘chill-out night’ in the level seven officers lounge. There will be snacks, blankets and movies, and it will start in ten minutes.”

Roman shifted a bit to, pulling up his message, a flicker of a frown and anxiousness fluttered by before Roman recomposed. “Mine says the same invitation, and if I know Logan, he sent the same proper invitation to Virgil, D’ee and Thomas too. What do you say Pat, wanna go cuddle and watch some movies? I bet Logan made those jam treats that everyone loves.”

“I- I think that’s better, than suddenly being alone with just me right now. And Lo will probably have eaten half of them by now, so we better go if we want to have any.” He smiled a bit and took a tissue, wiping away his current tears.

“And Logan says he does not understand emotions, the Vulcan is lying, and he says Vulcans do not lie.” Roman jokes, and that got a small laugh out of Patton and Emile.

“Logan may think he does not understand emotions, but his emotions understand other’s emotions, I just don’t think Logan realises that.” Emile said, stepping back from the hug, taking xems own tissue and wiping at xems tears.

“True that.” Roman agreed with a smile, and hints of happier emotions were starting to percolate again. “Common, I don’t want to miss out on movie night.”

They left Emile’s office, and the movie night was a great call in Patton’s opinion, ending a very aggressive day of rapid emotional change with the calming and secure presence of his family.

And if he ended up bookended between Roman and Virgil on the floor swaddled in blankets, half asleep before the first movie was even half over, well, then the day was not a total loss in the end.

~*~

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> fun note on the names I thought i'd share the meanings behind, Regio is spanish for Regal, so yes the twins have spanish heritage. if you were to put the vulcan part of Logan's name into a translator, it will be 'smart' from klon, and 'berry' from nei-savas, yes, i named him smart berry, koutavi is greek for puppy, which i thought was too adorable to not use, sollicitus is latin for anxious, and dormir is a verb for sleep in french, and i went with french because Remy is a french first name. 
> 
> that's all for now, kudos' are appreciated and comments are loved!


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